Is Free Dining free or "free"?

[deanimal]

Sorry for the slightly strange question. I was looking through the Allears archive of past discounts, and for many time periods, it mentions both 20-35 percent room discounts and free dining being offered at the same time. Are these discounts combined (20 percent off PLUS free dining) or is it one or the other? It's not really free if you're getting free dining but missing out on a significant room discount. Could anyone clarify this for me?

 

[smitch425]

Sorry for the slightly strange question. I was looking through the Allears archive of past discounts, and for many time periods, it mentions both 20-35 percent room discounts and free dining being offered at the same time. Are these discounts combined (20 percent off PLUS free dining) or is it one or the other? It's not really free if you're getting free dining but missing out on a significant room discount. Could anyone clarify this for me?

You can only use one discount at a time, so if there is a room code and a free dining code available for your dates, you will need to do the math to see which deal will save you the most money. Free dining is ALWAYS free, but it might not be the best deal. It is all about the math.

 

[DisneyLoverUSA]

For us FREE dining is always the better deal because there are 5 of us. We save $275 a day by not having to pay for the dining plan. There is not a room discount out there that would save me anything close to that much money.

Even if we were only getting the QSDP instead of the DDP we would still save $200 a day with that plan.

A 20% off room discount would save us between 30 and 50 dollars a day. No comparison.

And for those that say "OH the free dining isn't really free" YES IT IS. My package was $3950 before I got the free dining PIN CODE and it is now $2200. It's free and then some for us.

Even if it were just me and my husband staying the free dining is still more of a discount than a room only offer.

The only way a room only discount would save you more is if it were just 2 of you, you planned on staying in a deluxe room that cost more than $300 a night, and you got a 30 or 35% off room PIN code.

 

[TDC Nala]

If you buy an undiscounted, rack rate package with at least two day tickets, yes indeed, the dining is free.

The caveat is that there are other discounts out there, and one of those may turn out to actually be a better deal for your party than free dining, depending on where you stay, the time of year, the makeup of your party, whether or not you need tickets as part of a package and what your party generally does for food. And no, Disney does not allow combining discounts. You can choose free dining, or you can choose a different discount, like a percentage off your room.

 

[Fjobe]

For us last summer, the free dining was free. A couple discount offers came out after we booked, and everytime I checked (with dining plan), free dining was always the cheapest deal for us.

 

[Cafeen]

Free Dining is free.

You make a package at full cost with tickets, it costs $x. You add the dining plan to that, it costs $y more dollars.

You make a package under the free dining plan promotion, it costs $x. You remove the dining plan from it, it costs $x (and technically, wouldn't be under the promotion any more)

Something that people don't seem to understand is that we use the term "Free Dining" as shorthand for the "Free Dining Plan promotion". Simply because it's easier to say and type.

Now, is free dining (aka FDPP or Free Dining Plan Promotion) always the best offer? No. It depends on the situation, resort level, party makeup and size, and such. Even when planning to add on a dining plan, smaller parties at higher levels of resort (due to the combination of higher baseline prices for the rooms and the larger percentages off) typically make out better with a room discount and then paying for the plan.

As an example, this year we had 15% off or free QSDP at a value, and 25% off or free DDP at a deluxe.

If my value room cost me $82 per night, 15% off would save me $12.30 per night, total, for an entire party. Even someone going solo would be "saving" ~$35 per night using the QSDP offer. Which means that, so long as I spend over $16.50 per night on food that is covered by the plan (thus, getting it for free), I am coming out ahead on the QSDP offer. That's basically 1 meal. If I bring my friend and her little on on the trip, QSDP would then cost us (as a party) ~$82 per night ($35x2 + $12). Again, we'd still, as a party, need to spend $12.30 on covered items to make up the difference. I don't think anyone can feed 2 adults and a 5 year old on less than $12.30 a day (well, night) at Disney without bringing all their own food (and even then, it may be pushing it, since you DO have to purchase the food at some point...)

Now, on the flip side of this, we have the same group staying at WL with a 25% discount. A basic room rate of $265 per night and a discount of 25% saves me ~$66.25 per night. With the DDP costing $53 per night, you can see how my solo portion of the trip is better off with a room discount even if I decide to purchase the DDP. The 2nd portion is up in the air. DDP would look better at first, since it would be saving ~$119 per night (53x2 + 13), but we'd have to eat ~$66.25 worth of food to make up the difference. Unlike the Value example, eating for 3 at Disney on $66 per night is doable and we'd have to analyze to see if the DDP was right for us.

Now, shifting up the cost of the room, would shift up the value of the room discount. Since values shift up to about $107 for Fri-Sat, this is still right around $16 and a pretty tiny discount. WL shifts more to $285 per night (Fri-Sat) for the same room, knocking that discount up to ~$71 per night, making the choice more obvious for the solo, and more difficult for the party of 3.

But, saying that it's not free because you're paying rack rate, is like saying a room discount isn't a discount because you're paying full price on food. They're both discounts on the total package (used in the general sense, not the Disney sense), ideally we'd each individually use what's best for us.

Sorry, it irks me when people say that it's not free because you pass up a room discount... they are BOTH discounts of some sort and they work for two different subsets of people...just because you don't fit into one box, doesn't mean that box isn't as good or isn't really even a box

On a different note, think I can get away with blaming room discounts for resorts falling out of shape? Since they blame the free dining promotions for ruining Disney dining? Hmm...

 

[wdw4rfam]

It usually is the best discount depending on party size. We have 5, and are staying at the poly for 10-14 days in October. We have annual passes, and even buying 2 day tix, free dining will still be better than 30%. But for my parents, it only 2 of them, it was pretty close in a moderate with a 20-25%, but in a deluxe, the room discount is slightly better. So it depends.

 

[robinb]

Sorry for the slightly strange question. I was looking through the Allears archive of past discounts, and for many time periods, it mentions both 20-35 percent room discounts and free dining being offered at the same time. Are these discounts combined (20 percent off PLUS free dining) or is it one or the other? It's not really free if you're getting free dining but missing out on a significant room discount. Could anyone clarify this for me?

IMO, "free dining" is just another room discount that is equal to the value of the DDP for your family. Because it is based on the number of people in the room and their ages, it can be a better discount for one family over another. Also, the type of free DDP changes depending on the resort (Value resorts have only the QSDP for free) so the value of the discount will be better for Moderates and Deluxes over Values.

Free dining is not always the best discount for some families and especially for couples staying at Deluxe resorts. So, you need to compare free dining with your other best available discount. I will often compare the value of the best discount and ask myself if 3 of us could eat 2 meals a day OOP for that discount. For instance, CBR is 25% off in August. I calculated the costs for 1 week at CBR. Rack rate with tax (which would be the cost for "free dining") would be $1325. 25% off with tax would be $994. The difference over 7 days is $331 or $47 per day. I could not feed my family 2 meals per day for only $47 so "free dining" makes more sense to us in this case.

 

[disneychristmasx3]

while free dining is "free" for some it is free for us - meaning we never get to book at a discounted rate due to the dates we have to travel, the fact that we can only visit once every 2 years so AP's and TIW don't work for us, we are not florida residents, and have never received a PIN no matter how hard I try or how many CM's I badger. So if free dining comes up that is the only opportunity for a discount of any kind and saves us a lot of money if it happens!

 

[momto2inKC]

Yes, free dining is free. It costs you nothing. Each discount will save you a different amount depending on where you stay and how many adults/children are in your party.
For us, as a party of 4 adults, free dining saves our family approximately $210 a night when staying at a moderate hotel. That's more than a moderate room costs nightly, so there's no doubt in my mind that it's the best discount for *us*. If we chose to use the 20% discount it would only save us about $35-$40 a night at a moderate.
This next trip we originally were going to book at AoA with our free dining pin. However when I called I found it that it would cost the same to stay at AoA with the free QSDP which we would pay to upgrade, as it was to stay at CSR and get the regular dining plan free. I was quite happy to book that deal

 

[mackay_j]

It depends where you live and how you are booking ie which disney site you choose to book through. I got 45% discount and free ddp for this june/july 30th june - 14 july for $2476 at OKW in a studio for 4 adults.

 

[TDC Nala]

It depends where you live and how you are booking ie which disney site you choose to book through. I got 45% discount and free ddp for this june/july 30th june - 14 july for $2476 at OKW in a studio for 4 adults.

Are you British?

That is the only group I know of that is able to combine free dining with a room discount.

 

[mackay_j]

Are you British?

That is the only group I know of that is able to combine free dining with a room discount.

I am scottish .

But I know of family and friends from many other places including other EU countries, Auz and also caribbeen places who have booked through UK travel agents, without issue, to get these discounts. But they may all have UK passports (not sure though as I think the AUZ family are now auz citz), however, they do not have UK addresses or bank accounts to have paid the holiday from.

 

[smiths02]

Just a small caveat to add...without trying to break rules on discussing tipping...

While free dining is a discount and the price of dining is taken off or your package as the discount...keep in mind that some people use more Table Service entitlements when they have DDP or DxDP than they would if paying out of pocket for food. This can lead to a larger amount of your vacation money going to tips (if you are a family that would not normally order drinks, apps, desserts or go to that many table service restaurants). Just something to keep in mind for the bottom line

 

[KittyKat1978]

You can only use one discount at a time, so if there is a room code and a free dining code available for your dates, you will need to do the math to see which deal will save you the most money. Free dining is ALWAYS free, but it might not be the best deal. It is all about the math.

Not 100% true. Last Sept, if I wanted free dining I had to buy the photo book for $50. So it wasn't truly free.

This year it was free though.

 

[smitch425]

Not 100% true. Last Sept, if I wanted free dining I had to buy the photo book for $50. So it wasn't truly free.

This year it was free though.

You actuallywould have paid $90.90, but the dining plan WAS free, as in you paid nothing for the food . They just added another product to the promotion as a requirement just like the room and ticket requirement.

 

[KELLY]

You actuallywould have paid $90.90, but the dining plan WAS free, as in you paid nothing for the food . They just added another product to the promotion as a requirement just like the room and ticket requirement.

I't but I love our book from last year.

 

[MistressMerryweather]

We are saving $2000 with free dining this coming trip. Feels awfully free to me.

 

[pilferk]

Sorry for the slightly strange question. I was looking through the Allears archive of past discounts, and for many time periods, it mentions both 20-35 percent room discounts and free dining being offered at the same time. Are these discounts combined (20 percent off PLUS free dining) or is it one or the other? It's not really free if you're getting free dining but missing out on a significant room discount. Could anyone clarify this for me?

It is always "free" (if you're a US resident...UK residents can combine discounts, sometimes).

You EITHER get the room discount OR the free dining, not both.

You also have to pay Disney prices for your tickets....at least to some extent. You have to buy a 2 day pass for each person. Likely, any discount on tickets is not going to outweigh the higher initial cost of the "three day premium" Disney charges (ie: buying a 2 day pass from Disney + 8 day discounted pass > 10 day pass from disney).

So the "cost" of the DP is, essentially, the discount you gave up + the discount on tickets (via, say, undercover tourist) you could have received. Now, that "cost" could very well be less than the price you would have paid for the DP (or the value you'd get out of it)...but it doesn't mean there wasn't a cost.

Others will argue that it's free, because it doesn't actually add anything to your total cost of some configuration of a package. I see their POV...I just don't agree with it. To me, it's not free if there are conditions attached to it. To me, that "free" toaster you get for opening an account at a bank, with a minimum balance, direct deposit, etc, etc....wasn't free. It was "free". If I have to spend money (or, in the above example, move it) in a very particular way, forgoing other savings, discounts, or convenience....there's a cost. And if there's a cost..it's not free. Which doesn't mean it's not worth doing. It just means you should be aware of the different scenarios and find the best fit.

In many, many cases...taking the "free" dining results in a lover, overall, package cost than if you had purchased the discounted room, discounted tickets and paid for your food OOP (or bought the DP through Disney). Not always, though. Much of it depends on your party make up, how much you would truly consume in food, how long your trip is, and what you plan to do while you're there.

 

[TDC Nala]

You have to look at free dining as just a discount, like any other discount. The word "free" seems like it's automatically the best thing out there.

You can generally have either the free dining or a percentage off your room. Unless you're under that UK offer, you have to pick one or the other. One discount may be better than the other if you just add up what those things all cost if you were to purchase them, or there may be other considerations regarding the personal value of certain discounts (I personally do not like being on the dining plan so unless it's a REALLY major discount over what I'd ordinarily buy in food or beverages for myself with my TIW, I will take the room discount. If free dining would work out to be just a little cheaper than what I'd buy myself, I'm still going to take the room discount.)